Phone bank: Mon 11/5 5:30-8:00 PM Uptown Oakland – Issues Voters Northern NV. Please RSVP and an event coordinator will respond with details.
Mon 10/29 5:30 PM Phone Bank – Uptown Oakland – NV Senate
Phone bank: Mon 10/29 5:30-8:00 PM Uptown Oakland – Issues Voters Northern NV. Please RSVP and an event coordinator will respond with details.
Postcarding 10/27 10:00 AM – Dublin – Andrew Janz (CD-22)
Help get out the vote for Andrew Janz in CD-22! Get ready to do some resisting by Bic! (Or Sharpie–you choose). We’ll provide supplies and explain how it works–folks new to postcarding are welcome! Please RSVP!
- You can bring your own postcards or we’ll have lots there for you to use
- Bring postcard stamps (.35 each for cards a max of 6″ x 4.25″) if you have, or we’ll have stamps for you (donations very welcome)
- We’ll also have pens and markers, but feel free to bring your own
Sun 10/21 2 PM Phone Bank – East Oakland – CA Swing Districts
Sun 10/21 2 PM Phone Bank – East Oakland – CA Swing Districts. Please RSVP and an event coordinator will respond with details.
Phone Bank 10/20 12:00 PM – Dublin – Andrew Janz (CD-22)
Help get out the vote for Andrew Janz in CD-22 without leaving the 925 area code! We’ll be dialing for Andrew from IBEW Local 595. All you need is a phone plus an iPad or laptop that is wi-fi enabled, and a phone charger to keep making the calls. Please RSVP.
10/14 GOTV Training: The Last Step to Take Back Congress!
The only way out of this mess is to flip Congress. That means we really really really need Democrats and progressives to vote in close House and Senate races this November. And that means those of us here in the deep blue Bay, need to reach out to them with support and encouragement—also known as Get Out the Vote, or GOTV.
Sunday October 14 at the El Cerrito Community Center, Bay Area Indivisibles are bringing in trainers from Indivisible National for a GOTV canvass and phone-bank training for all levels. If you’ve been doing this for years, we need you to come lend your insights and learn techniques for passing your skills along; and if you’ve never done this before, we need you to come learn the tricks of the trade and find out that it’s not as scary as you might have thought.
We are planning a packed afternoon starting with an optional lunch and team building, followed by two and a half hours of training, including role-playing and live phone-bank demonstrations, and ending with one hour of phone banking to swing districts in California to put your skills to use right away.
Tentative Schedule Overview:
11:30am-12:30pm optional lunch
12:30-3pm training and live demonstration
3-4pm sign up for future events, mingle, and transition into phone-banking
4-5pm phone bank to CA Swing Districts
Space is limited, so make sure to RSVP now.
Please contact info@indivisibleEB.org with any questions
Canvassing with Very Cool People in Sanger
By Ted Lam, Fiona Woods, and Carl Mason
Six hours of driving and six hours of canvassing? Yes! And it was even more fun than we expected. We left Oakland before 5 AM on Saturday October 6, heading south toward Sanger, CA. Bagels, coffee, and great conversation made for a delightful three hour drive. A millennial, a Gen Xer, and a baby boomer cruising toward the sunrise; intensely agreeing on politics while sharing music, pop culture, and social science insights.
Almost before we knew it we’d arrived in Sanger. While SwingLeft’s cheerful and super efficient organizers Stacey, Sharon and Norberto were giving us a quick update and walk through of the Political Data Inc. (PDI) app, who should show up but TJ Cox, the candidate we were there to canvass for! He spoke with us briefly and told us why he’s running for Congress: to help this neglected district get the attention and resources it deserves. CA-21 has a high poverty rate with many residents on Medicaid. TJ was especially proud that a foundation he started has built health clinics all over the valley, including the United Health Clinic in Sanger. When we were out canvassing, many of the people we talked to were surprised and moved to find out that TJ was the force behind the Clinic’s creation.
You’d be shocked (not really!) to learn that David Valadao, the incumbent Republican Member of Congress against whom TJ is running, has voted with 45 over 98% of the time. Valadao has consistently voted against his district’s interests, including voting against the ACA, voting for cuts to Medicare, and failing to follow through with the discharge petition to protect DREAMers.
The three of us canvassed together from 9 AM to 3 in the afternoon, talking mainly to Democrats and to those who “declined to state” a preference on their voter registration. That’s because at this point in the election cycle, it’s much more about getting out the vote than persuading people to change their preference. While it was jarring to meet so many people who professed to have no knowledge of the election, it also felt productive. Nearly everyone was friendly and talking about TJ was easy. Perhaps we’re being overly optimistic, but we feel confident that we made a difference — that at least some of the people we spoke with will turn up at the polls because of us.
After lunch, the canvassing went a bit slower — not only because we were hauling around bellies full of excellent Mexican food, but because fewer people were home (or willing to answer the door). We left campaign literature with personalized post-it notes at every house. By day’s end, SwingLeft canvassers had knocked on 710 doors and had 174 targeted conversations — plus many more contacts with potential voters. Our trio even got three people to put up TJ Cox yard signs in very noticeable locations!
As the temperature approached 80 degrees (still unusually cool in the Valley), we wrapped it up, debriefed with the SwingLeft team, and headed for home. The drive back was even better than the drive out: after several weeks of the excruciating-to-watch Kavanaugh hearings, the satisfaction of having done something positive was cathartic.
You can make a difference too!
- Check out our new “Volunteer to Flip the G-D- Congress” list & calendar. Find IEB phone banks and canvassing trips and sign up! (Also easily accessible on our home page)
- Sign up to get our weekly list of phone banks and canvassing trips
- Check out opportunities to canvass, phone or text bank, write postcards, and more, with these great organizations IEB works in coalition with:
- Join Indivisible Berkeley in phoning Nevada voters from home to help flip the critical NV Senate seat. Info & sign up here. Check out other IB events too.
- See the East Bay for TJ Cox events calendar to support the CA-21 congressional candidate.
- Canvass in CA-21 with Swing Left East Bay. Check upcoming events and sign up here.
- Knock on doors to help flip CA-10 for Josh Harder. Info & sign up here.
- Swing Left Contra Costa hosts monthly voter registration in Tracy (CA-10) on the 3rd Saturday of each month. Check their event calendar.
- Canvass with Working America AFL-CIO in CA-10 (Modesto) and CA-21 (San Joaquin Valley). You’ll get excellent training and can then sign up for volunteer shifts.
Can’t get out to canvass yourself? Donate to support one of the great groups listed above. You can even sponsor a canvasser in CA-21 by donating to Valley Forward, which helps employ people living in the district.
Read Ted’s recent article about why he spends his time canvassing, and his article about canvassing for TJ Cox in Mendota before the primary.
Phone Bank to Nevada Tue 10/09 – Uptown Oakland
Phone bank: Tue 10/09 5:30 PM – Uptown Oakland – Issues Voters Northern NV. Please RSVP and an event coordinator will respond with details.
Phone-bank and canvass like the life of the Republic depends on it!
Summer is ending and it’s time to get serious about flipping Congress. We have a little over two months left to do everything we can to activate voters before the 2018 midterms. But don’t freak out, there are things you can do:
Those of us who know that Trump and everything he stands for must be RESOUNDINGLY REJECTED must do the hard work of advanced citizenship … It’s called organizing and absolutely every single one of us is capable of doing it. No matter your skill, experience, or background, no matter how little time you have to spare. Everyone can do something.
As you may know, Indivisible East Bay has partnered with Indivisible Northern Nevada on a special phone-banking and canvassing project to reach Reno voters who have registered non-partisan but are progressive on issues such as health care, civil rights, and immigration. We’re giving them the information they need to vote for a Senate candidate who shares their values. We’re also making calls to recruit local volunteers to help with these efforts.
What you can do: sign up to canvass and phone bank!
Sign up here for IEB canvass trips to Reno:
Trips cover weekends, Saturdays and Sundays. We will be joining local Indivisible Northern Nevada volunteers and may be able to help with carpools and lodging.
- September 15 & 16
- September 29 & 30
- October 20 & 21
- October 27 & 28
- November 3 & 4
Sign up here for phone banks sponsored by IEB:
We’ll also be calling voters in Nevada and recruiting volunteers here in the Bay Area to help us in Nevada.
- Thursday 8/30, 6:30-8:30 PM, phone bank in Richmond
- Sunday 9/2, 2:30-5:30 PM, phone bank in Rockridge/Temescal
- Thursday 9/6, 6-8 PM, phone bank in East Oakland (near Mills College)
- Sunday 9/9, 9/2 2:30-5:30 PM, phone bank in Rockridge/Temescal
- Tuesday 9/11, 6-8 PM, phone bank in Rockridge/Claremont
We’re looking to expand our phone banks to all corners of the East Bay. If you don’t see one listed near you, please contact us to find out how to host one, or recruit a friend or neighbor to do so. We can provide all the support you need!
Sign up to phonebank with some other great local organizations to help flip swing districts in California:
- Sunday 9/2, 1-3 PM, phone bank in Walnut Creek with Team Blue Wave — Make calls for Democrat TJ Cox in CA-21
Monday 9/3, phone bank in Livermore with Swing Left — Phone-banking & Postcarding on Monday nights, same great location, same great host!
Tuesday 9/4, 5-8 PM, phone bank in Lafayette with Commit to Flip Blue — There are plenty of CD-10 voters that we can call so Josh Harder can win!
Wednesday 9/5, 5-7 PM, phone bank in Dublin with Swing Left — Multiple choices of voter contacts. Everybody both new and experienced is welcome! - Find more phone banks here by zip code, and here.
You can even sign up to make calls to swing districts all across the country from the comfort of your own home! Sign up with Swing Left here. It’s even more fun if you invite some neighbors over!
Swalwell’s Swell Town Hall
On August 11, 2018, Representative Eric Swalwell (CA-15) spoke to an enthusiastic audience at his “How Can I Help? A Campaign Town Hall & Midterm Election Kickoff.” The purpose was to get the audience geared up for the upcoming midterms, particularly upcoming House races. To facilitate engagement in these efforts, Rep. Swalwell is opening an office in Dublin where people can take action to help with Democratic races. The space will have areas for phone and text banking and also for writing postcards. On the weekends, the office will serve as a coordination point for events out in the field, such as canvassing. Located at the IBEW Local 595 (6250 Village Pkwy, Dublin), the space is scheduled to open on September 4. Rep. Swalwell encouraged the audience to use this space to work toward getting the candidate(s) of their choice elected. He recommended that everyone pick one or two candidates that they really want to help get elected, as it’s easier to focus on a small number, and you’ll feel more accomplished if your candidates win!
During the Q&A period, someone asked about election security and whether our ballots were going to be secure. Rep. Swalwell said that although election security is very important, the concerns should not be sensationalized, as it may cause some folks to sit out the election because they will think their votes won’t matter. Instead, he said, we should focus on getting everyone out to vote rather than worry about hacking.
An audience member also asked Rep. Swalwell if he’d be willing to co-sign House Joint Resolution 48, which would overturn Citizens United. Both Representative DeSaulnier and Lee have co-signed it already, and Swalwell said he is supportive and will look into co-signing.
Overall, it was a motivating gathering full of people eager to help take back Congress. All CA-15 residents should consider joining Rep. Swalwell’s office on this fight!
Excited to join Indivisible East Bay’s CA-15 team? Email us to get started!
Photograph by Janine Costanzo